"We are as guilty as Benjamin is, if we want to start pointing fingers and assigning blame. Benjamin is not our possession or our property to control. He is a unique individual with his own desires and his own history. He can bring whomever he wants home to our village, and we should accept them with open arms and warm hearts, just as Benjamin accepts all of us regardless of our deficiencies and our flaws.

"So what if he visited a brothel at some point in his journey? Though I believe that particular fact to be untrue based on what I know of his character, even if it were true, it would be wholly our fault for not pleasing his desires enough to keep him satisfied at home."

It was becoming canon that Rahab was a prostitute now, when there weren’t any evidence, but okay...

"You are correct in your assessment, Sara. I let my emotions get the better of me and I jumped to conclusions without having all the facts laid out," Sakura’s fox ears flattened on her head in a gesture of genuine apology, her amber eyes softening as she looked at Benjamin with regret. "I never had the right to accuse him so harshly without proper evidence or without hearing his side of the story at all. That was wrong of me."

"H-Hmph! Do whatever you want with your life! I guess I have no choice but to support you even in your unfaithfulness, since that is what Sara is asking of us and since you seem determined to do as you please anyway," Tamar folded her arms and looked away, her voice still carrying a note of stubbornness, but her posture relaxing slightly as she spoke.

"Thank you all for understanding," Sara smiled and flashed a beautiful smile at the women who blushed a little from seeing it.

Her expression was warm and genuine, full of affection for her sisters and fellow women.

She turned to the strange woman now clinging to Benjamin again, her emerald eyes meeting the pale woman’s yellow ones with a calm and steady gaze:

"Whatever history you have with Benjamin, if he accepts you into his life, we will accept you too. We are not ashamed of him and his choices, and we will not hold his past against him, no matter what that past contains."

Benjamin smiled and gazed at Sara as if she was his goddess come to life, his blue eyes shining with admiration and gratitude that words could not fully express.

"Thank you, Sara!" He praised, "You were so cool standing up for me like that in front of everyone! But seriously, I never went to a brothel or anything like that... Well... not yet. But I love all of you guys deeply, and I take your feelings and concerns into consideration with every single decision I make in my life!"

He brought his face closer to the pale pretty one clinging to him, ruing the fact that he was not very tall, and pouted at her with exaggerated displeasure:

"And you, stop spreading controversies and false accusations about me here. If you want to have a private audience with me, you do not have to lie to get my attention. I am usually reasonable about these things when people approach me honestly."

"Eh?" Rahab looked at his face, confused by his words and tone, her yellow eyes blinking slowly as she processed what he had just said. "But I was not lying about anything, though. You ravaged me against my will in that deserted place. And you even violated my daughter too."

"I am sorry, Benjamin. I have no backup for this argument or defense for this accusation," Sara turned her face away, hiding behind her hair, unable to meet his eyes.

She genuinely did not know what to say in his defense anymore.

"No, stop!! Don’t abandon me, Sara! I need you on my side!" Benjamin cried, stretching his arm out at her desperately, before grabbing the shoulder of the strange woman who was still clinging to him with surprising strength.

"Stop spreading lies already, you pale corpse! I have had enough of this nonsense!" He began to shake her body violently, trying to dislodge her grip from his torso.

"See everyone? He is about to force himself on me again, right here in front of all of you. He cannot control his urges no matter how many people are watching."

"Sh-Shut up, you crazy woman! That is not what is happening at all!" Benjamin’s face went red from how the matter was flowing to her assumptions, his cheeks burning with embarrassment and frustration.

[Tsk! There is a legitimate weirdo here, Sys! And seriously, her eyes look so honest and sincere when she tells those lies! I cannot tell if she is acting or if she actually believes what she is saying!] Benjamin alerted Sys mentally, his internal voice strained and frustrated.

{Hm? But Master... she is not telling lies about anything at all. She has told no lie so far in this entire conversation, as far as I can detect. Everything she has said is true from her perspective and matches with the information I have access to.}

[You see, Sys, this is exactly why we have been getting into a lot of conflict lately. It is like you are not on my side anymore, like you are deliberately taking her side against me for some reason I do not understand.] Benjamin’s internal voice was frustrated and accusatory.

{I beg to differ, Master. In fact, it was Master who went and made friends with another Ego Partner, forgetting all about me in that moment and ignoring my presence entirely while you spoke with Stem.}

[How are you still sore about that small thing?! Stem was a nice girl with a pleasant voice! I was just being polite to her! I did not even ignore you!] 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

{Am... I not a nice girl as well? Do I not have a pleasant voice? Am I not worthy of your attention and your praises, too?}

[Wh... Who said you are not? You can be all of those things when you choose to be. But you are not being nice right now by accusing me of sexual assault and agreeing with some pale stranger who has come out of nowhere to cause trouble for me!]

{Hm? I am not agreeing with the stranger’s interpretation of events.}

[Thank God, so I am innocent and all she said I did was false, right?]

{No, the pale individual is correct in her recollection. Master did penetrate her and did to her as he liked in that moment. The act did occurred.}

[I see we cannot have a proper conversation without you making things worse for me,] Benjamin, fed up with the circular argument and the endless accusations, stopped fighting the matter entirely, and gave up on trying to defend himself.

"Fine. Let us say I did do all those terrible things to you... and your daughter," he tried to peel her off himself with both hands, pushing against her shoulders, but she stayed glued to his body like a limpet, refusing to be removed no matter how much force he used. "What do you want from me as an apology? What would make you forgive me and leave me alone?"